chao cac ban, like amadbrownwoman, the dancing inmates are back!

and the inmates are now dancing (supposedly) to air a political statement.

online geekness

shortened version of friendster messages between two huh, friends (i just love me in my real articulate moments

vietnam: oi,oi,oi, have you read zadie smith? just read autograph man (available at all leading pirated bookstores nationwide!), go read, am now looking for white teeth
philippines: (response in less than a week, remarkable since this person would respond usually after a month, or two or never, honestly that's what friends are for) why, what's great about zadie smith?
vietnam: funny, flaneur, fucked-up, well, autograph man, at least
philipines: hmm, zadie smith, flaneur mode you say? i'll look it up. the best i've read lately is alain de botton's the art of travel, which is a sort of intellectual/academic but still bourgeois mind trip on, what else, d'art of travel

admittedly i am vietnam, so yes geek. and while on the subject of friends:

WANTED: CRIMINALS (BABIES NOT INCLUDED)
REWARD: REALLY CHEAP MOT DOLLAR ONLY

i saw the best minds of my generation work in call centers( i know you're dead but take that ginsberg! and zadie smith)

and of course, another one of my old time friends

indie movies from phil, why oh why are indies from other asian countries not available here? what the?


ps as far as i know zadie smith not dead yet, just to clarify
pps women do loose their ability to take pictures of themselves when they have children, children as some form of physical extension, after all the theorizing and foa shiz char! (there i go again)
ppps foa=full of art, pare!
ppps raia pps is for you dear
pppps on the ginsberg allusion you know yous
ppppps i miss you and love you and miss you my friends (ang mushy nito)
pppppps ma tante s'appelait bella, ma chere lara et elle etait une chienne, just saying

If there's a fish sauce contest...

“The nuoc mam from Phu Quoc Island was the best of all, clear and with an astonishingly subtle taste. . .But the sauce in this restaurant is from the Philippines, very bad, not from Thailand, which at least is a pale second-best.” - from Love by Robert Olen Butler

(If you're a Filipino, look away quick, because I agree. I'm partial to Phu Quoc nuoc mam.)

When I went to Phan Tiet, the Vietnamese driver said that the nuoc mam from Phan Tiet is also good. I wouldn't know though since I didn't want to open the car to buy one while we were passing the nuoc mam area. It would have been tantamount to going inside a gas chamber. Or self-mutilation.

Which sport do you play?

In my sweeping survey (not that I ever did a survey, of course), the greatest signifier of Asian-ness is *drum rolls* BADMINTON.

Here is the theoretical result of the said theoretical survey:
99% of Vietnamese plays badminton, remaining 1% handicapped, ie victims of agent orange, tennis is the sign of economic status, so when a Vietnamese says s/he plays tennis, it means a declaration of membership to the upper echelon of society or an intent to be a member of that esteemed group (red alert, *the sound is dong! dong! dong!), the immediate response of the women is badminton, immediate response of men is football (testosterone!) and then badminton

Still wondering about Seventeen Saloon music?

After being enthralled with news of Tarantino thrilla, yes, this is a youtube video of prisoners in Cebu Provincial and Rehabilitation Center in Cebu, Philippines dancing to Thriller.

1. And it has to be Michael Jackson. Our fascination with all things America or absurdity.
2. The omnipresent pa-girl homosexuals in our society. No sarcasm here!
3. That much orange gives me headache.
4. Still wonder why such is the music in Seventeen Saloon? This should answer it all.
5. Interestingly, what would it look like if these were Vietnamese prisoners? The music, it's safe to assume would be some love song. The uniform, I think, would be blue (that color so loved by Vietnamese beaurucrats ie it's the only color they wear, and the pants, visibly tighter.